I'm trying something different with my next startup.
One of the biggest mistakes I made with previous projects was spending months building before talking to anyone.
I'd launch, hope people would come... and they didn't.
This time, I'm doing the opposite.
I'm building Sobrica, a privacy-first recovery app for people quitting nicotine and alcohol, but before launch I'm trying to build an audience, talk to people in recovery, and learn from their experiences.
The more stories I read, the more I realized recovery isn't just about counting sober days.
It's about getting through the moments when you're about to give up.
That changed how we're designing the app.
Instead of asking, "What features should we add?" we've started asking, "What does someone need to see when they're one craving away from relapsing?"
That's become our guiding question.
Over the next few months I'll be sharing everything the wins, mistakes, design decisions, marketing experiments, Product Hunt launch, and what we learn from talking to users.
If you've built a product in health, habits, or any space where behavior change matters, I'd love to hear one thing:
What's one lesson you wish you'd learned before launching?
I like the shift from validating features to validating moments. The question I'd keep testing is whether people primarily need better recovery tracking or better support during high-risk decisions. Solving the hardest moment usually creates a much stronger product than improving the routine.
I think you nailed it. We're actually starting to believe recovery tracking is only valuable if it helps someone make a better decision during a craving. Out of curiosity , if you were building something like this what kind of support would you want in that high-risk moment?
That's actually the question I found most interesting.
I do have a view on how I'd think about that high-risk moment, but I don't think the answer is just a feature idea. It depends on what kind of decision you're trying to help someone make in that moment.
I'd rather explain the reasoning with Sobrica as the context than give a generic answer here.
If you're open to it, what's the best email to reach you on?
Funny enough, that's the exact question we're obsessed with right now I don't think people relapse because they forgot smoking or drinking is bad They relapse because, in that moment, the craving becomes louder than the reasons they quit
So instead of asking, "How do we motivate someone?" we're asking, "How do we create just enough space between the craving and the decision?"
If we can help someone pause for even a minute or two, I think we've already increased their chances of making the decision they'll be proud of tomorrow.
Absolutely! It's brokedevs4@gmail.com.
Happy to chat. I'm still early in building Sobrica, so I'm always interested in hearing different perspectives on recovery and behavior change.
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.